RALEIGH, N.C. – The NHL schedule makers did the Devils no favors this weekend with faceoffs just 22 hours apart.

But in earning their fourth straight victory as they beat the Hurricanes, 3-2, in overtime on Sunday at PNC Arena, the Devils also showed how seriously they must be taken in this NHL playoff race.

“I think it’s important we have taken a step in understanding how hard we need to play night in and night out,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “The commitment level by our group, they understand what it is and they’re willing to give it on a nightly basis. That’s the step we were looking to take.”

Taylor Hall, pursuing his own rebound to extend his career-high point streak to 11 games, scored the winner with 22.7 seconds left in overtime for the Devils (31-20-8).

The Devils remain in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and in the first wild-card position but, with 70 points – matching their total from last season when they finished last in the Eastern Conference – they are six points ahead of the fifth-place Islanders and just four points behind the first-place Penguins.

The Devils also defeated the Hurricanes (27-24-9), who have lost three straight, 5-2 on Thursday night at Prudential Center. Keith Kinkaid stopped 27 shots that night and made 40 saves on Sunday, keeping the Devils in it as the Hurricanes outshot them 13-3 in the third period.

“We said it was a big series for us with them so close in the standings,” Kinkaid said. “We want to have a cushion with the teams below us and catch the teams above us. It just shows what kind of team we are: Relentless. If we play the way we did this week, I think we’re going to get a lot more wins more often. It shows when we play our team game what we can really do out there.”

Cam Ward stopped 18 shots for the Hurricanes and was off the ice for an extra skater when Jeff Skinner tied the game at 2 at 18:42 of the third period.

“Yeah, it’s not the way we drew it up but somedays the schedule dictates you’ve just got to battle and rely on a couple of individual performances to get through,” said Hall, who has seven goals and seven assists over the last 11 games and actually has at least a point in each of the last 18 games he’s played in, though he missed three games prior to the All-Star break with an injured right thumb.

“I think the fact that this was a 5 o’clock game was pretty understated,” Hall added. “The fact that they’re not on a back to back. We weren’t a rested group by any means but you saw the battle level that was there and that’s always good.”

The Devils won 4-3 at Tampa Bay on Saturday night as Eddie Lack made a career-high 48 saves.

“Sometimes it’s hard to reset after an emotional win and [Saturday] night’s game was obviously emotional and then as quick a turnaround as you get in the NHL schedule to try to leave that one in the past and gear up for a desperate team,” said right wing Kyle Palmieri, who played in his 400th NHL game. “We kind of weathered it and that’s something that’s big for our group.”

New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier (13) is congratulated by forward Kyle Palmieri (21) and defenseman Sami Vatanen (45) after scoring a first period goal against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.(Photo: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports)

The Devils had been 0 for 16 on the power play over their past five games and stuck in a 3-for-48 rut but Nico Hischier, extending his goal streak to four games, converted on their first opportunity of the game.

Hischier, skating the puck over the blue line to below the faceoff circles, beat Ward over his glove. Kinkaid received the secondary assist, giving him two this season, the first coming on Thursday night against the Hurricanes.

Teuve Teravainen tied the game at 1 at 6:05 of the second period but John Moore, exiting the penalty box, collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and fed Pavel Zacha on the rush to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 15:33 of the second period.

Zacha, the sixth overall pick in 2015, now has goals in consecutive games and six on the season.